Private company

MK Metro

Bus operator in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire

MK Metro was a bus company operating in Milton Keynes from 1997 until 2010.2 It is part of Arriva.1 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

1997Founded1
MK Metro bus 52 (cropped)
Photo: Ian Roberts, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons4

MK Metro was a bus company operating in Milton Keynes from 1997 until 2010.2

Corporate structure

MK Metro is part of a group headed by Arriva. 47 entities, 5 countries on record. Switch between the flow chart and the network, and select any entity to see its details.

Built from parent and subsidiary links from GLEIF, the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (CC0); subsidiaries, stakes and holdings from Wikidata (CC0). Each entity in the chart links to its source.

The story

In 1997, Stagecoach was ordered by the Office of Fair Trading to divest of its operations in Milton Keynes and Huntingdon. This followed an investigation in 1996 into its acquisition of Cambus Holdings which was deemed to have led to an unacceptable monopoly of bus operations in Cambridgeshire, Corby, East Northamptonshire, Kettering, Wellingborough, Bedford and Mid Bedfordshire.

The assets of Milton Keynes Citybus were purchased on 2 May 1997 by bus entrepreneur Julian Peddle, using a new company Premier Buses Limited both to operate in Huntingdon (under the Premier Buses brand name) and also as a holding company with which to purchase MK Metro. The operation was rebranded as MK Metro with a bright yellow and blue livery introduced.

In February 2006, Premier Buses Limited was purchased by Arriva, with the MK Metro business retained as an independent brand within its Arriva Shires & Essex subsidiary. A new logo introduced in 2007.

On 25 April 2010, the Arriva brand and livery were introduced. Milton Keynes services began to operate under the sub brand of MK Star, and the change of name coincided with a number of controversial service changes. Among these services included the 'platinum MK' route brand, introducing a fleet of silver Mercedes-Benz Citaros on service 300 between Central Milton Keynes and the Magna Park logistics centre.

From Wikipedia’s article on MK Metro, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3

Products and brands

Fleet

As of the February 2006 takeover by Arriva, the MK Metro fleet consisted of 120 buses. The fleet ranged from mainly Dennis Darts (high floor and low floor, with a variety of bodywork), to Mercedes-Benz minibuses and Optare Solos. Double-decker Optare Spectras, and Wright Solar bodied Scania L94UBs were also operated.

Fleet summary

Dennis Dart

Dennis Dart SLF

VDL SB120

Read the full text

Mercedes-Benz Vario

Optare Solo

Optare Spectra

Scania L94UB

Alexander Dennis Enviro300

Former key services

1 / B / C: City Centre – Green Park – Newport Pagnell – Olney – Bedford / Northampton

2: Westcroft – Oxley Park – Grange Farm – City Centre – Willen – Poets Estate – Newport Pagnell

4 / A / E: Wolverton – Stony Stratford – City Centre – Hospital – Whaddon Way – Bletchley

5 / E: Wolverton – Bradville – City Centre – Hospital – Bletchley – Lakes Estate

7 / E: Wolverton – Stantonbury – City Centre – Bletchley – Newton Longville / Lakes Estate

7 A: Wolverton – Great Linford – Neath Hill – City Centre

8: Westcroft – Shenley Brook End – City Centre – Kingston – Bletchley / Woburn Sands

Intermediate services

These routes were operated by MK Metro after its take-over by Arriva, but before the rebranding and new timetable launch on 24 April 2010.

2E: Wolverton – Heelands – City Centre – Willen – Poets Estate – Newport Pagnell

3E: Wolverton – Great Linford – City Centre – Shenley Church End – Furzton – Westcroft

6 / A: Wolverton / Bradville – Heelands – City Centre – Hospital- Emerson Valley – Bletchley

9 / A: City Centre – Shenley Lodge – Furzton – West Bletchley – Bletchley

12: Wolverton – Greenleys – Bradwell – City Centre – Kents Hill – Open University – Caldecotte

20: Bletchley – Tattenhoe – Westcroft – City Centre – Hospital – Walnut Tree

26E: Bletchley – Furzton – City Centre – Walnut Tree – Kingston Centre

29: Bletchley – Hospital – Oldbrook – City Centre – Crownhill – Shenley Church End

32: City Centre – Buckingham – Little Tingewick (peak hours)

39: Bletchley – Whaddon Way – Oldbrook – City Centre – Crownhill – Shenley Church End

300: City Centre – Broughton Gate – Kingston / Magna Park

Other former services

11: Milton Keynes – Monkston – Kingston – Woburn Sands – Bow Brickhill – Bletchley

13: Stony Stratford – Stantonbury – City Centre – Bletchley – Lakes Estate

14: City Centre – Stony Stratford – Old Stratford – Deanshanger / Wicken

16: Bletchley – West Bletchley – Emerson Valley – Westcroft

17A: Milton Keynes – Moulsoe – Cranfield

17B: City Centre – Great Linford – Newport Pagnell – Cranfield

18: City Centre – Woolstone – Woughton Park – Simpson – Bletchley

30 / 31: Newport Pagnell – Wolverton – Stony Stratford – Bletchley

32A: Buckingham Town Service

33: Milton Keynes – Blue Bridge – Wolverton – Hanslope – Roade – Northampton

(NN)11 Northampton – Kingsley – Parklands – Links View – Kingsley – Northampton (only serves Links View on return from Parklands)

(NN)21 Northampton – University Avenue Campus – Kingsthorpe – University Park Campus (ceased due to contract loss)

From Wikipedia’s article on MK Metro, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.3

Subsidiaries and ownership

Parent company

From Wikidata.1

Timeline

  1. 1997Founded Founded1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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